I have been looking forward to my VAT free invite for a while now - and it has arrived. I need a load of stuff - vice/marking out/saw/files/clamps etc.

In anticipation of my VAT free visit I have been looking around for prices of equivalent kit. It looks like some of Machine Mart's price are terrible.

I posted a thread about a MM fire extinguisher earlier this week and you are all right, way over priced. I can get four of those from B&Q for the same money.

B&Q have a Record 3 Ton vice for £35, the same one in MM is £70.

I still fancy the combination set and the biggest Clarke vice they have - but apart from that they can forget it. This is supposed to be Locost.

I might buy their £2 scriber as well, but I am sure I being ripped off.

Am I way off with this post?

Well their 22 ish quid air cut off tool is 20 quid in Halfords, but their air saw is a couple of quid less than the Halfords one (but red instead of chromed).

I'm in mixed opinions over their stuff. Some of the stuff I've bought from there makes B&Q look like fine British enginerring

See Link . Have you tried returning anything yet?

You need to go and look at the stuff very carefully. Some things are pretty good value, others are definitely not.

I've got quite a lot of stuff from them (always on their VAT-free days) and have been very pleased with it. BUT - I've always been and looked at it all first, and checked prices elsewhere, and had a list ready for when the invite drops through the door.

The other thing to consider, for me at least, is what happens if it goes wrong? Machine Mart are local, and the couple of times I've had a problem, have fixed it without a quibble. That's worth a couple of quid to me

Cheers
Richard

I had a LONG (45 mins) argument with the tw**s in the Mansfield branch about a mini gas regulator that would not give me anything apart from a weak hiss at maximum. "They are all like that" was all I got, and this was the replacement for the regulator that gave me nothing at all. We went through 6 regulators, some supplied with welders, some supplied alone and only half of them gave the mild hiss - some didnt even open the valve in the bottle.

Still wouldn't give me my money back, even though they didnt work according to the instruction manual - they didnt regulate at all it was max or nothing. They suggested I take my complaont up with the manufacturer. W***ers.

Edit - if you knew me you wouldn't think I would argue about anything let alone a £10 product for 45 minutes.

[Edited on 27/10/06 by Mansfield]

Have you tried ( screwfix ) ive used them for years for tools aswell fixtures , next day delivery on most things .

I use toolstation.com now. Setup by the bloke who sold screwfix to b&q.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mansfield
I had a LONG (45 mins) argument with the tw**s in the Mansfield branch

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The last one I had problems with was a stocky guy with a big tattoo on his forearm. I wanted a metal cutting bandsaw blade, Id got the dimensions and even though the blades they had were identical in size and width he was insistant that theyd only fit a Clarke bandsaw. After much argument he finally sold them me and surprise surprise they fitted. I seem to remember another guy who used to work there with a massive forehead who always thought he knew everything about everything.

Rich

quote:

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Originally posted by Rich_T
I seem to remember another guy who used to work there with a massive forehead who always thought he knew everything about everything.

Rich

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He's on number 285 now I think

I'm strong enough to disregard that as whimsical banter.








Although you might or might not be going on another secret list.

I have a vat free day ticket for the Mansfield branch but I can't think of anything I need at the moment. The scriber I use is a screwdriver I broke, now sharpened on the bench grinder which was from Machine Mart.